Re: My Brakes

["John Hofstetter" <hofs@domain.elided>]

Skip,
It appears to me that you sent this to the wrong digest address, so
I'm going to send it on to the right one, so that maybe you'll get
some help from other digesters. 
You definitely do not have a properly working brake system on your 79
Scout! Actually, at the risk of repeating myself, your Scout should
have excellent brakes.
I think I'd start by looking at three things:
I'd make sure that the booster is getting good vacuum. I unplug my
vacuum line from the booster occasionally to put oil in the vehicle
and when I do, my brakes act like yours, only I can't push hard enough
to stop it. 
I'd jack up one side of the vehicle and test the brakes by trying to
rotate the tires with the brake applied to a moderate amount. Both
front and rear should be locking up way beyond what force you can
apply. Repeat on the other side. 
I'd check to see if the emergency brake works well with the vehicle
trying to roll forward. If it does, then you can assume that the rear
brakes are physically OK.  At Tulare, a week or two ago, I was using
the emergency brake to help me balance on the teeter totter, and the
brakes held so well that I crumpled the ends of the shoes with the
force I was applying. 
You probably already know that most of the braking comes from the
front disks, but you need to know if the rears are working OK. 
Hopefully, if you find that you have good vacuum to the booster,
somebody will provide a way to test the booster, because I think that
your booster is the problem.
Let us know.
John H.

----------
From: ldupliss@domain.elided
To: ihc-digest-request@domain.elided
Subject: My Brakes
Date: Fri, Apr 30, 1999, 5:57 AM


John-  Well, the fact of the matter is, I don't REALLY know if my
brake
system is in good working order or not  : )  The reason I said it was
in
good shape is b/c a "mechanic" told me "the brakes were fine" and that
was
"just the way Scout brakes work".  I was also told that my m/c &
booster
"looked" new.  Being new to Scouts, I just always assumed IH's did not
have
good brakes.  I also have a point of reference b/c I have driven many
older
light and medium duty work trucks (meaning, I do not expect my '79
Scout to
brake like a '99 Porsche).  However, I find that if I am on the
slightest
downhill grade at a stop light, I have to use TWO feet to keep from
running
over the car in front of me.  This is the "hardest to stop" vehicle I
have
ever driven.

Can anyone help me diagnose how to determine if my m/c and booster are
working correctly?  Are there any other components I should look at
(my
front rotors, front pads, and rear brake pads look very new)?  Should
I
just replace m/c and booster?

TIA,
Skip